Exhibits 5.7 and 5.8 show the percentages of fourth grade students that “always,” “almost always,” “sometimes,” or “never” speak the language of the TIMSS test at home, together with average achievement in mathematics (Exhibit 5.7) and science (Exhibit 5.8). Exhibits 5.9 and 5.10 provide comparable information for eighth grade students.

About two-thirds of students (63% at fourth grade and 66% at eighth grade), on average, reported “always” speaking the language of the test at home, and most of the remaining students (32% at fourth grade and 30% at eighth grade) reported speaking it “almost always” or “sometimes.” There was relatively little variation in average achievement across these categories. However, the few students (5% at fourth grade and 4% at eighth grade, on average) who “never” spoke the language of the test at home had much lower average achievement in both mathematics (442 for both fourth and eighth grades) and science (418 and 428, respectively).